Big ship to be lifted onto even bigger ship in 'complex' operation

Black Marlin heavy-lift ship arrives in Hobart to carry Incat electric ferry from Tasmania to South America Tue 28 Jul 2026 at 4:38pm In short: The heavy-lift transporter ship MV Black Marlin, one of the biggest vessels to ever enter the River Derwent, has arrived in Hobart. A complex operation to load the world's largest electric-powered vessel onto the heavy-lift ship will take place later this week. What's next? A journey of about 40 days will see the transporter deliver the ferry to South America, where it will enter service between Uruguay and Argentina. In a rare sight for Hobart, one of the world's largest heavy-lift ships has made anchor in the River Derwent, as it awaits being central to "one of the most complex maritime events" in the state's history. The Dutch-operated, 217-metre-long, 42-metre-wide heavy-lift ship MV Black Marlin completed its journey from South Africa this morning, anchoring 1.5 kilometres off Tranmere on Hobart's eastern shore. It's one of the biggest ships to enter the River Derwent. The ship is in Hobart to pick up Hobart-based ship builder Incat's new battery-electric powered ferry, the largest of its kind in the world. Hull 096, dubbed China Zorrilla after the Uruguayan actress, can transport up to 2,100 passengers, and was completed in May last year. It was built for South American ferry company Buquebus to service the Rio de la Plata route between Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay and Buenos Aires in Argentina. Loading...Securing heavy-lift ship 'challenging' Hull 096 was ready to be shipped to South America in April; however, it faced headwinds after the original heavy-lift vessel booked to transport the ferry became stuck in the Persian Gulf due to the US-Iran conflict. The Black Marlin was secured to transport the electric ferry in June. Incat chairman Robert Clifford said the first ship is still stuck in the Persian Gulf. "It's been a challenging two or three months, waiting for the ship to arrive," he said. "We're now looking forward to the process of getting the ferry onto the ship." Loading operation to be one of 'the most complex' in Tasmania Mr Clifford said Incat is preparing for "one of the most significant maritime operations ever undertaken in Tasmania". "A ship of this size going on a heavy-lift ship is rather unusual," he said. "Other parts of the world, they've seen it of course, but this is the first time anything like this has happened in Australia." The operation will require dozens of people and take several days, with crews from Boksalis, Incat and TasPorts involved. An exclusion zone of 500 metres will be in place. Overnight on Wednesday, the semi-submersible Black Marlin will submerge its cargo deck, a process that takes 10 hours. On Thursday morning, Hull 096 will be moved from its current dock at Macquarie Wharf to the Black Marlin, before being handed over to tugboats, which will help position it. The ferry will be manoeuvred into position on a cradle above the submerged deck, taking about four hours. The water will then be pumped out, lifting the cargo deck out of the water, which will take another 10 hours, before the ferry is chained down and secured. "On Friday, it'll be completely out of the water, sitting up there on the ship,"Mr Clifford said. "Then there'll be Friday, and perhaps Saturday, securing the ship to everyone's satisfaction, and later on the weekend they'll set off on their way to South America." The journey to South America is expected to take about 40 days. Once in Buenos Aires, Mr Clifford said the entire operation will be repeated. "Within a few weeks of it being there, it (Hull 096) will be in service," he said. "But that depends on the electrical connections which have to be sorted out in America. All the equipment has been supplied by the same contractor in the shore equipment and the boat equipment. "So it's all been tested on the land already. It's just a matter of being retested, ready to go when she gets there." Ships like Black Marlin may become a 'regular' visitors Mr Clifford said five more electronically powered ships are in the pipeline, with some of them requiring a heavy-lift ship. He said if all goes to plan for the shipbuilder, Hobartians could be seeing the Black Marlin or a sister ship "fairly regularly". "If all our plans are carried out successfully, we'll have potentially up to a ship a month leaving here," Mr Clifford said. "Now that's not going to happen in five minutes. That's going to take quite some time to set up and get going, but this is a big business for Tasmania."